alyctes

I've just acquired a Yamaha BB450, 4-string, bolt-on neck held by four screws. There are cracks in the wood of the body from both the screws at the neck (open) end of the pocket. I've removed the neck to have a look, and it's definitely cracks in the wood, not just the lacquer. The bloke I got it from bought it sight unseen from eBay a few years back - my guess is that it was dropped or stressed badly in transit, since I can't see any obvious sign of a harsh blow to the headstock. How serious an issue is this? It's not something I've seen before. Any comments welcome.

A sensible bloke - he lost a (smallish) sale by pointing out to me, very politely, that I was being stupid.

Bought a Warwick Rockstand from Lozz. Carefully packaged, and evident care taken with nuts bolts washers and screws. Plus, both the Allen key and the spanner (no idea if they're "original", I'm just impressed he knew where they were and sent them Good deal, would definitely deal with again. Cheers!

My second purchase from Cieran (I bought some more strings, one of these days I'll get round to playing them ). All as before; nice guy, good comms and quick shipment. A pleasure to deal with, and would definitely do so again. Cheers!

I bought some ex-Ibanez pickups from Nick. Clean, quick transaction. I misread his original advert; he could have taken advantage of that, and did not. An honourable man, and easy to deal with. Thank you.

Bought a DR-3 drum machine from Squib. Good comms, quick delivery well packaged. No hesitation in dealing with him again.

Three Doors Down, 'Kryptonite' a bit of a brooder but it works for me

Bought a couple of Tusq nuts from Chris. All as advertised, good packaging, good comms, and very quick. A pleasure doing business with him.

My dad was a double bass player; he talked to me about 5-string DB, some time around 1976. I'm fairly sure he was talking about an add-on, rather than a purpose-built 5, though.

Bought a Westone Rail from him. All as advertised (and what a great little beast it is ), excellent packing and a PM describing how to open it with no risk to the contents. There was a delay in delivery, and he sent a very clear and informative PM apologising and explaining what had happened. A good experience

Bought an Encore Strat neck and jack from chrispy108. Good deal, all very quick and simple. Prompt delivery, well packaged (in an old Guitar Hero box ).

I bought a piezo pickup from Mike. Good comms, all as advertised, well packaged, and very very quick - PM late Saturday, arrived Tuesday lunchtime! Excellent deal - thanks!

I bought a Fishman preamp from him. All as advertised, good communication, prompt dispatch and really excellent packaging.

Snakefarm's reading of 'St James Infirmary' is worth a look (not to everyone's taste, but there you go). [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuzrgu55lkA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuzrgu55lkA[/url]